‘Tox-seq’ atlas of immune cells identified for neurodegenerative therapies

A comprehensive ‘atlas’ of the toxic immune cells that can damage the brain has been identified by researchers at the Gladstone Institutes (CA, USA). Their study, which has recently been published in Nature Immunology, describes the use of a technique known as Tox-seq to develop the molecular profile, which they report has been successful in identifying a potential new drug target for multiple sclerosis (MS) and possibly other diseases. Tox-seq is a method that integrates single-cell RNA-sequencing technology with selective labelling of cells that produce oxidative stress to reveal which genes are ‘on’ or ‘off’. Within their study, the team...